Porsche Hood Crest

A quick and simple little project - replacing the hood crest with a custom colored one from "intrepidagent" on rennlist.

The Original Crest.
  It's in good shape, but it's the only gold color on the entire car.

FD Motorsport SSK and Goldenrod Install

FDM Goldenrod

Over the Easter weekend, a friend and I installed the FD Motorsports Goldenrod and SSK.  Despite having read many glowing reviews, I was somewhat skeptical that the setup would live-up to the hype.

Porsche 993 Fog Light Reconditioning

Ella's fog lights needed some reconditioning.  The passenger side fog light had been cracked by a large stone, and was very yellow.  The driver side looked much newer -- like it had been replaced once already (hmm...don't remember that in the car's history, oh well...).

Porsche 993 Headlight Overhaul (or Ella's New Glasses)

Ella's headlights were looking a bit tired from the rock chips to the yellow-hued bulbs to the yellowed headlight lenses.  She was ready for a makeover.

Replacing Porsche 993 Third Brake Light Bulbs with LEDs

When I purchased Ella, she was sporting a gap-toothed look on the 3rd (middle, high mounted) brake light.  This is really no surprise as the design uses 24 (yes, you read that right, 24) individual incandescent bulbs.

A quick search on rennlist revealed several others had the same thought I did: replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs.  Even better, several options had already been tried and validated.  I just followed their lead.  Read on for the details and lessons-learned in my install.

[Update 12-Feb-2016]  I recently noticed that Tore at Bergvill FX is selling a kit to replace these incandescent bulbs with LEDs.  While I haven't tried this specific product, my experience with Tore has been great on other products, and I would use his kit if I was to do this job again.

Ella's 5-year PIP (Porsche Improvement Plan ;-))

My back log of projects is nearly complete, so I started day dreaming of where to go next.  Based off a list I put together a while back, here's my "plan" for the next five years.  The only thing that is certain is that this project that won't go according to plan.  Have suggestions; please leave them in the comments below.

"Temporary" Rock Guard Replacement for My 993

The clear rock guards on my 993 are in pretty sad shape.  On both sides, chunks are missing and multiple rock hits have gone all the way down to the paint.  They are also anything but "clear" or "paint colored".

I have been wondering if re-doing them in black would lend a nice retro look, and I found the perfect way to give it a trial:  magnetic rock guards from MagnaGrafik (thanks to Bruce7 on rennlist for the pattern)..

I installed them over the existing stone guards so that I can go back anytime.  Someday I hope to get the paint fixed, but until then this is a very budget friendly way to improve Ella's appearance.  These looks so nice, we may even play with some additional magnetic decals :-).

Before                                               After

How to Install a Strut Tower Brace in a Porsche 993 (and drill-out a broken strut stud!)

Installing a strut tower brace in Porsche 993 is really pretty simple, but I still managed to make it take forever.  The  brace discussed in this post is a TechArt model I bought used.  The seller shipped it with absolutely fantastic packaging -- I've received new items with less professional packing.

Read on for a few notes on the install.

New Mats!

My parents got me two new floor mats custom fit for my 993 -- a much needed replacement!  Thank you :-).  I love the red "Porsche" logo.  Here is a side-by-side comparison of new and old (the photo is a very good representation of the real appearance).

I was initially concerned about the shape difference, but Lloyd's included a note saying the shape had purposely been improved.  They fit great, and I was very happy that Lloyds included the plastic nut for attaching the floor mats to post on the floor.

A Commitment

"I will not buy any more parts for Ella until I finish installing the parts I already have."  -Me

[Update July 9, 2013:  The projects are all done.  I can start shopping again! :-)]

My enthusiasm for buying (or receiving as a birthday gift :-)) parts for Porsche projects has outpaced my ability to actually get the projects done.  It has gotten a little out of hand, so I decided to use this "public" commitment as a motivational tool.

Here are the outstanding projects:

1. [Done] Door handle gasket replacement.  Parts 99353763100 and 99353762100.
2. Front lighting upgrade
• [Done] HID upgrade from Bergvill FX.
• [Done] Headlight lens replacement
• [Done] Fog lamp repair.  Instructions on Rennlist here.
• [Done] Protect headlight and fog lamp lenses with Lamin-X lens protective film.
3. [Done] LED 3rd brake light replacement.  Disassembly here and LED info here.
4. [Done] Install (used) TechArt strut tower brace.

New Shoes for a New Stance

Four weekends later, Ella has her new stance and some new shoes to match!  I am thrilled with the look, a little bummed at the condition of the rear wheels (bought used on eBay), and disappointed (but not surprised) that the clunking/clanking in the passenger side rear suspension is still there.

Here she is trying on her new shoes.

And on the ground for the first time.  That nasty wheel gap is gone...but have I gone too far?

She's off for her alignment and a professional diagnosis of the rear suspension clunking noise tomorrow.  Once that's done, I will get some better "glamour" shots to post.

Ella's Red Under Where?

Ever since I've learned about powder coating metal, I've been keen to give it a try.  While working on my lowering spring install, I noticed that a metal panel under the car had a few rust spots.  Actually, Porsche spot-welded some washers onto the panel, which were rusting; the main panel was fine.  


I took the panels over to my new friends at Ace Powder Coating, and they offered me a nice price on powder coating the metal panels as well as the top and bottom hats of the of the front strut.  I figured these were great places to try out powder coating since no one would ever see it.  


 Here are the parts back from the powder coating.  I should have taken a before shot, but they were just black painted metal.  

And a shot of the metal trays installed.  Ella's now got a little surprise waiting underneath.  ;-)

"I could hide out under there...

I just made you say "underwear."

from Pinch Me by the Barenaked Ladies

I've loved that lyric for years!

Bilstein HD + H&R Spring Install

More than a year after completing the install, I have revisited the result.  Suffice it to say, I'm not very happy with my first attempt at suspension modifications and will try again.  Read more about it here.  (13-April-2014).
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As usual, I'm behind on the blog.  My "Porsche" time has been entirely consumed in my next project -- replacing the stock springs with a set of H&R Sport Springs.  Ella's been up on jack stands the last three weeks.  I think she looks kind of funny "floating" in the garage.  With just a bit of Photoshop magic to remove the jack stands...

There is a lot of information already available on the web for this install (search rennlist.com and visit http://p-car.com/diy/sus/), so I won't repeat it here.  I do have a few additional thoughts though:

7/8" Oxygen Sensor Socket as a 22mm Strut Nut Socket

1. The nut on top of the front struts was 22mm, not 21mm, for me.  I've read a few other places where people encountered this.  A very helpful employee at Pep Boys suggested that a 7/8" oxygen sensor socket should work just like the spark plug socket, and she was right. 
2. Rear lower control arm boots were cracked. I have dedicated a separate post to the specific topic. Visit it here:  http://twofourthsfull.blogspot.com/2013/03/rear-control-arm-rubber-bootgasket.html

Porsche 993 Motor Mount Replacement

Worn Porsche 993 C2 Motor Mount

Having read that motor mounts often wear out on the 993's, I decided to check into mine.  Here's the before photo. I think this shows the mounts clearly sagging, although I'm not sure because I've never seen a set of new 993 motor mounts.

The 993 C2 motor mounts were rather expensive, so I decided to go with the C4 mounts that were quite reasonably priced from Pelican.  For the removal, I followed the excellent write-up at pcarworkshop.com.

Some people have reported big improvements from this replacement, but to be honest I did not noticed much of a difference.  Maybe mine weren't really in bad shape or maybe I'm just not that aware.

Finally, I would like to give a big thanks to a couple friends who helped out with this little project.  It was a lot of fun!  Crazy to think we had the engine disconnected from the car...